Mysore Venkatagiriyappa (Vainika)

vs_manjunath · Post by **vs_manjunath** » 15 Oct 2006, 09:31

Dear Laksman/Meena,

I have the following compositions of Sri.Venkatagiriyappa:

1) Lalithambe- BhuvanagAndhari

2) SurapAla-Dharmavathi

3) Sri JAnaki- VAgadheeshwari

4) ParAthpara-Suryakantha

5) Pari PAlisow- Pashupathi Priya

6) Sarva Mangale- Madhyamavathi

If required, I can write down the lyrics and post it.

kmrasika · Post by **kmrasika** » 16 Oct 2006, 06:43

vs_manjunath: Never heard of this composer until the mention somewhere in the threads. Please do post lyrics (notation available?) of surapAla sannutE as well as sarva mangaLE. Interestingly, there is a similar song like the former in the book of mutayyA bhAgavatar's compositions by vidhyalingam. Non-copyrighted audios will be very welcomed, as well

.

PS: I think amba brOvavE (dharmavati) is by this composer, as well?

meena · Post by **meena** » 16 Oct 2006, 06:51

manjunath

sorry i do not have Mysore Venkatagiriappa's comp.

kmrasika
DELETED

Lakshman · Post by **Lakshman** » 16 Oct 2006, 20:22

amba brOvavE is by Bidaram Kittappa.

vs_manjunath · Post by **vs_manjunath** » 16 Oct 2006, 21:15

Dear Lakshman- It's Bidaram Krishnappa and not Kittappa.

Lakshman · Post by **Lakshman** » 16 Oct 2006, 22:20

Thanks VS_manjunath.

Raja Chandra · Post by **Raja Chandra** » 17 Oct 2006, 00:09

VEENA VENKATAGIRIYAPPA (1887-1952)
It is said that the history of the present day veena, which is very popular in South India as a superb string instrument, can be traced back to the days when man was a hunter. When the hunter shot his arrow the bowstring produced a pleasant humming sound. He made a number of experiments with the bow to get different levels of resonance and variance in sound.
The early veena was bow-shaped. This is represented in sculpture dating from the third century BC. It was called Yazh in Tamil. Thanks to the efforts made by Raghunatha Naik, a ruler of Tanjavoor and his Prime Minister Govinda Dikshitar, a veena with 24 fixed frets was evolved.
Interestingly, it came to Mysore and earned the patronage of the noble rulers of the Wadiyar dynasty. It bloomed in Mysore, as in nowhere else, as a unique musical instrument in the hands of great maestros like Seshanna and Subbanna. Veena Venkatagiriyappa (1887-1952) belonged to this great veena tradition of Mysore.
Family of ascetics
Veena Venkatagiriyappa was born in Heggadadevanakote into a family of ascetics. He was the only son of his parents, Venkataramaiah and Narasamma. His father passed away when Venkatagiriyappa was one year old. The helpless mother had to seek protection by her father, Veena Dodda Subbarao, who was living in Mysore.
Dodda Subbarao was no ordinary person. Dodda means big or elder. Dodda Subbarao was a big name in the world of music in Mysore. He was a great veena player. While it is the practice of others to hold the veena horizontally while playing on it, Dodda Subbarao was holding it vertically. This was possible only for those who had put in assiduous practice for a long time. He was a leading light among the Asthana Vidwans of Mysore.
Dodda Subbarao had four daughters and one son, who was called Chikka Subbarao. He also aquired mastery in veena playing like his father.

Venkatagiriyappa's mother's arrival in Mysore with her infant son, seeking refuge under her father, was a blessing in disguise to the child. He was exposed to the greater world of music in Mysore. His maternal grandfather Dodda Subbarao initiated Venkatagiriyappa into this world. He was Venkatagiriyappa's first guru. The second guru was Dodda Subbarao's son, Chikka Subbarao.
Venkatagiriyappa had his initiation into music in strange circumstances. Venkatagiriyappa was then a child of five years. It was Vijayadashami in the year 1892. Dodda Subbarao went as usual to the Palace and met the Maharaja. 'I have received a call from above. It is upto your Highness to protect my grandson,' he said. The Maharaja did not take it seriously. He thought that it was meant as a joke.
Dodda Subbarao went home, finished ablutions, worshipped the veena, blessed his grandson, called his son Chikka Subbarao and asked him to continue the lessons from the next day onwards, offered prayers to God, sang his favourite composition Vara Narada, and prostrated before the deity, never to get up !
The news of the passing away of Dodda Subbarao came as a shock to the Maharaja. He rendered all help to the bereaved family.
Life of renunciation
Chikka Subbarao was already leading a life of renunciation. He had lost all his children and this had made him sad and retreating. The death of his father also had its own impact on him. He was totally devoted to music.
Venkatagiriyappa grew under the loving care of Chikka Subbarao, learnt veena and evolved into a master veena player.
He was married at the age of sixteen. Soon he became the father of a son. But providence again played truant. He lost his son as well his wife. He married again. The bride (Venkatalakshamma) was the daughter of his first wife's maternal uncle. This time fortune smiled on him. He was enabled to pursue his goal in life with equanimity.
Audience with Maharaja
But Chikka Subbarao wanted that Venkatagiriyappa should give a veena recital before the Maharaja. He had an audience with the Maharaja and placed before him his heart's desire. A kacheri was arranged at the Palace. The Maharaja sat through the performance but his face was expressionless. He gave the artiste a nominal sum of two rupees (in those days).
Chikka Subbarao was disappointed. But he dare not give vent to his feelings before the Maharaja.
When they returned home, another unpleasant experience lay in wait. A servant of the Palace taunted them, 'I learnt that His Highness was immensely pleased and gave you a bountiful reward.'
Chikka Subbarao could feel the sting. But he restrained himself and said, 'It is great that His Highness was kind enough to listen to the veena recital. His grace is greater than all the gifts that one can get.'
The Maharaja had just set a ploy to test the mettle and integrity of the artiste before taking him into his confidence. The Maharaja was overjoyed that Venkatagiriyappa had passed the test. Venkatagiriyappa and Subbarao were invited to the Palace and expressed his pleasure in kind and appointed Venkatagiriyappa as the Asthana Vidwan.
Venkatagiriyappa occupied many posts of honour. He was the Director of the Palace Band. He taught veena to the daughters of Yuvaraja Kanteerava Narasimharaja Wadiyar. He taught music to the students of the Government Training College and Maharani's High School. He learnt western music and made some valuable contributions to it ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Â

vs_manjunath · Post by **vs_manjunath** » 17 Oct 2006, 06:38

Thank you very much Sri.Raja Chandra for enlightening all of us about the greatness of Vainika Vidwan Venkatagiriyappa.

1. Lalithambe-BhuvanagAndhari-Adi

BhuvanagAndhari- Aa:S R2 M1 P N2 S|
Ava:S N2 D1 P M1 G2 S||

Both Gandharam and Dhaivatham are varjyam in Aa and Rishabham varyam in Ava . This is a janya of Nata Bhairavi.

P: LalithAmbe srimAthe mahithe shailendra suthe thrigunAthEthe||

AP: vilasanmaHamAnvithe salahow sowbhagyaJathe mAthe ||

Ch: mArAri thapo mandhAraPale karunAlavAle dEnapAle bhuvanArchithe suravaranuthe bhuvanagAnDhari geethasuPrEthe

2. SurapAla- Dharmavathi-Adi

P: SurapAla sannuthe sriyuthe dharanE dharEndra jAthe mAthe

A.P: VaravEyuthenna paripAlisow karunAnvithe sri lalithe

Ch: ParmEshwari shive shankari harisOdari rajarajEshwari vara dharmavathi gEthapriye srimanmahAbalagiri nilaye

vs_manjunath · Post by **vs_manjunath** » 18 Oct 2006, 19:25

3. Sri JAnaki- Vagadheeshwari-Adi

P: Sri jAnakI manOhara sri rAma srikara||

A.P: RAjarAjeshwari vijayisai vishwadhara ||

Ch: Thyagaraja pramukha vinutha suravarAdhipa pUjitha
vAgadhIshvari gItasuprIthe ||

4. ParAthpara- Suryakantha-Adi ( 2 Kalai)

P:ParAthpara gangAdhara srikantEshwara hara krupAsAgara
maheshwara nigamAntha sAra||

AP: surEshwara pAlisai shashidhara sri shankara girIsha sri pArvathI manOharAkara ||

Ch: BhAvAthItha dEvadEva shiva mahAvaibhava sri mahAdEva niranjana nirmala nirupama nithyAthmaka nirAmaya sUryakAntha gItha suprItha ||

5. ParipAlisow- Pashupathipriya- Adi
Pashupathipriya- Aa: S R2 M1 P M1 D2 S ||
Ava: S D2 P M1 R2 M1 S ||
Janya of Harikambodhi

P:ParpAlisow paramEshwari srimAthe sri chamUndeshwari ||

AP: SurarAja saNuthe shankari sri rAjarAjeshwari ||

Ch: Varabhaktha sudarshana rAjana poredhanthire thAye
Ninna charanAbjava nerenambiha sri nalvadi krishnEndrana

6. Sarvamangale - Madhyamavathi-Adi

P: Sarvamangale salahow sadaye sharvasundari sri shankari ||

A.P: ParvathEshana varaputhriye sarvalOka pAliniye thAye ||

Ch: Mudhadhe rajathamahOthsava vitHavolu padhuladinde hEma rathnothsavake yaduvamsha sudhAnbudhi chandrana sri nAlvadi krishnEndrana ||

Lakshman · Post by **Lakshman** » 18 Oct 2006, 20:46

Thank you vs_manjunath.

drshrikaanth · Post by **drshrikaanth** » 18 Oct 2006, 20:46

Should this thread not be in the vaggeyakaras section?

vs_manjunath · Post by **vs_manjunath** » 18 Oct 2006, 22:48

drshrikaanth wrote:Should this thread not be in the vaggeyakaras section?

Initially as I was posting the lyrics, I included this thread in that Heading . Since, Sri Raja Chandra has included a full story about the composer, I think now it can be included under Vaggeyakaras section. Request Admin to do the needful.

vs_manjunath · Post by **vs_manjunath** » 18 Oct 2006, 22:57

kmrasika wrote:vs_manjunath: Never heard of this composer until the mention somewhere in the threads. Please do post lyrics (notation available?) of surapAla sannutE as well as sarva mangaLE. Interestingly, there is a similar song like the former in the book of mutayyA bhAgavatar's compositions by vidhyalingam. Non-copyrighted audios will be very welcomed, as well .

PS: I think amba brOvavE (dharmavati) is by this composer, as well?

I do have the notation for all the above songs, but it takes some amount of time to change it to english notation. I will post them, once they become usable.

Secondly, Will you kindly check from the Dr.Muthiah Bhagavathar's book(by Vidhyalingam), any Janya's of Shanmukhapriya being composed by Dr HMB ? if so, kindly post them with lyrics and raga name etc.,

meena · Post by **meena** » 18 Oct 2006, 23:06

as per request the thread has been moved.

Lakshman · Post by **Lakshman** » 19 Oct 2006, 02:27

There are no songs by Muttiah Bhagavatar in the janya rAgAs of SaNmukhapriyA.

kmrasika · Post by **kmrasika** » 19 Oct 2006, 06:13

I do have the notation for all the above songs, but it takes some amount of time to change it to english notation. I will post them, once they become usable.

I can wait patiently till when you get to post them.

Take your time working on them. It's a great service to bring to light pieces that don't get reception due to language barriers. Little did I realize how much excellent music talent exists in Mysore (which happens to be a seat of music) than what is written about it.

Secondly, Will you kindly check from the Dr.Muthiah Bhagavathar's book(by Vidhyalingam), any Janya's of Shanmukhapriya being composed by Dr HMB ? if so, kindly post them with lyrics and raga name etc.,

On a brief look, I will have to concede w/ Lakshman Sir that muttayya bhAgavatar has not composed in any derivatives of shaNmukhapriyA. I will check again. "valli nAyaka" is his wonderful composition in this rAga.

kartik · Post by **kartik** » 27 Oct 2006, 15:42

HMB has composed 2 kritis in Shanmukhapriya and not composed in any of its derivatives.

kartik · Post by **kartik** » 27 Oct 2006, 15:47

Manjunath,
Pls look at this link-
http://www.geocities.com/promiserani2/c2145.html
Surapala Sannuta is by HMB.I have posted the link so that you can verify the lyrics.

drshrikaanth · Post by **drshrikaanth** » 27 Oct 2006, 16:03

surapAlasannute in dharmavati is a composition of venkaTagiryappa only. Not HMB's. It does not have the harikESa mudre anyway.

The kRti is notated in the book of venkaTagiriyappa's compositions published by the Mysore University.

Lakshman · Post by **Lakshman** » 27 Oct 2006, 18:31

The kriti is found on page 110 of volume 3 of Vaidyalingam's book (varNa, daru, ragamalika, tillana and kirtana) of Muttiah Bhagavatr's kritis

vs_manjunath · Post by **vs_manjunath** » 27 Oct 2006, 20:40

The lyrics I have listed above are from the book "Sangeethamrithsara" authored by none other than Vainika Vidwan Sri Venkatagiriappa and published in August 1936. The book in Kannada contains 20 Varnams;29 Thyagaraja Krithis; 3 Dikshitar Krithis;3 Shyama Shstri Kritis;5 Mysore Sadashiva Rao Krithis; 2 Patnam Subramnya Iyer's ; 1 Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar's; 1 Gayakha Shikamani Muthiah Bhagavathar's ; 2 Mysore Vasudevachar's and in all humility he has included his compositions at the end.
This book was meant as a suitable text book for the intermediate standard in music. This should put to rest about the authorship of " surapAla in Dharmavathi".

Lakshman · Post by **Lakshman** » 27 Oct 2006, 22:04

Are the varNAs in this book the standard ones? Would you be kind enough to post the list of the contents please? Thanks.

vs_manjunath · Post by **vs_manjunath** » 28 Oct 2006, 13:08

Varnams listed in Sangeethamrutasaara by Vainika Vidwan Venkatagiriyappa
(ComposerÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s name not mentioned in any of the Varnams).

Lyrics refer to
1.ninne naMi yunnanura Hindola Adi Nalwadi Krishna Rajendra
2. ninu kOriyunnanduku Bhairavi Adi Chamarajendra
3. chalamela Kamach Adi
4. evaruNaNura Navarasa kannada Adi Sri Krishna Rajendra
5. pAmuruni nE vEla Kaapi Adi vAmadeva purini velayu sri rAmachandra
6. intha chalamu Begada Adi Sri Venugopala
7. yEra nApai Thodi Adi Sri Venkatesha
8. nIsari manne dora Kedara Gowla Adi Varada Venkatendra (has 6 Charanams)
9. nere jAnavani Begada Adi Parthasarathe
10. sarasuda Saveri Adi Sri Venkatesha
11. chalamEla Shankarabharana Atta Sarasijanabha
12. nere naMithi KAnada Atta Srinivasa
13. kanakangi Thodi Atta Thulajendra
14. intachalmu Kamboji Atta Sri Chamarajendra
15. tharamugAdaMa Mohana Atta Chamarajendra
16. maguva niNe Narayana Gowla Atta Sri Venugopala
17. ika nElanE Purnachandrike Atta Adi Venkateshwara
18. sri shubha hamsagamana Thodi Atta Sri Chamarajendra
19. vanajAksha Reethigowla Atta Venugopala
20. sAmi nine Poorva Kalyani Kanda MaTya Chamarajendra

srinidhi · Post by **srinidhi** » 29 Oct 2006, 07:13

It was said that Venkatagiriappa -as a guru- was a tough taskmaster. Doraiswamy Iyengar recalls a few incidents about his tutelage under the master. See the follwing link
http://www.musicalnirvana.com/carnatic/ ... views.html

vs_manjunath · Post by **vs_manjunath** » 29 Oct 2006, 07:53

Srinidhi, thanks. Probably the 20 varnams taught by Venkatagiriyappa to Doraiswamy Iyengar must be the same which have been listed above.

kmrasika · Post by **kmrasika** » 09 Nov 2006, 06:30

Is the jAvaLi telisenurA (sAvEri) a composition of vengkaTagiriyappa? The reason I ask is because it is so denoted in the inlay card of the recent album of padAs and jAvaLis by Smt. Brinda & Mukta released by Akashavani.

vs_manjunath · Post by **vs_manjunath** » 09 Nov 2006, 19:57

In SangeetAmrutasAra, there are no Javalis mentioned. Since. it's released by Akashavani and the details of the jAvali would have been furnished by the artistes. I presume it must be correct.
I request DRS to confirm.

Lakshman · Post by **Lakshman** » 09 Nov 2006, 20:34

telisenurA is by Chinniah.

drshrikaanth · Post by **drshrikaanth** » 09 Nov 2006, 20:36

The song is not found in the book of his compositions either. And Lakshman is correct about the composer.

Raja Chandra · Post by **Raja Chandra** » 09 Nov 2006, 23:14

Even in the book: Musical Composers during Wodeyar Dynasty" by Dr. Meera Rajaram does not list any javalis .

QUOTE:

" Venakatagiriappa has to his credit of composing around 5 varnas, 26 Kritis, 3 Ragamalikas, 4 Tillanas and 3 Nagamas. Nagamas are only swaras with differrent combinations woven beautifully, resembling Gats of Hindustani music. These rae ideal for instruments"

kmrasika · Post by **kmrasika** » 18 Nov 2006, 08:14

Thank you all for your input on this issue. I think I'll write them to point out the misattribution.

vs_manjunath · Post by **vs_manjunath** » 19 Nov 2006, 21:18

The following observation may please be made by looking at the lyrics of his compositions.In Lalithambe - geethasuPrEthe; in SurapAla-gEthapriye ;in Sri JAnaki-gItasuprIthe; in ParAthpara- gItha suprItha ;
Probably other two compositions may have some more charanams in which his namAnkitha may be there. Since his compositions have gIthasuprithe/gIthasupritha/gEthapriye---all having the commonword "gItha" ; it appears that "gItha"may be Sri Venkatagiriyappa's namankitha ??

kmrasika- can you please check in the jAvali, the above type of words with " gItha " appears ? Then we can conclude it's Sri.Venkatagiriyappa's Javali only.
Raja Chandra/DRS- Can you kindly check in the books you have mentioned, whether a namankitha with word " gItha " can be attributed to Venkatagiriyappa ??

Raja Chandra · Post by **Raja Chandra** » 19 Nov 2006, 23:51

Manjunath,

As for as i understand, Venkatagiriappa's compositions do not have any known vaggeyakara mudra. Use of the phrase githa may be incidental. But his compositions are embellished with rAga mudra, pOshaka mudra, sthaLA mudra or kshEtra mudra.

But i do see the word gIta appeaaring in most of them.

like bhuvana gAndhAri gIta suprItE; , vara dharmavati gItapriye, vAgaadhIshvari gIta suprIta, sUryakanata gIta suprIta !

Lakshman · Post by **Lakshman** » 20 Nov 2006, 04:44

Here is the text of the song.
telisenurA. rAgA: sAvEri. rUpaka tALA.

P: telisenurA nI derakellanu nEDu cakka
A: elamini nanElina prANEsha shrI venkaTEsha talapuna nannencavEra tappudaNTalella nEDu
C1: mATalapasa dAniNTa maunambE nAyiNTa ADa pADa dAniNTa alukale nAyiNTa
jUDu vagale nAyiNTa sogasella dAniNTa nATakamule nAyiNTa nammikella dAniNTa
2: pODigamulu dAniNTa poDi cUpulu nAyiNTa vEDugalunu dAniNTa vegaTulu nAyiNTa
prauDa tanamu dAniNTa pagalellanu nAyiNTa Udigamulu dAniNTa vaTTi nenere nAyiNTa
3: mariyAdalu dAniNTa maTumAyalu nAyiNTa sarasamulE dAniNTa sAkulu nAyiNTa
biruduDIvi dAniNTa biguvellanu nAyiNTa vara sukhamule dAniNTa vATTi bhramale nAyiNTa